A Huckabee-Romney Ticket?
A respected friend asked me if I thought Mitt Romney should offer the vice presidential slot to Mike Huckabee. I found the idea startling, and said so. Then, on further reflection, e-mailed these thoughts to him:
"I suspect McCain has already reached out to Huck about the VP slot. That would explain Huck's refusal to speak a negative word about McCain and their (unsuccessful) tag-team attempt against Romney in the second debate before New Hampshire.Jonathan Martin also thinks a McCain-Huckabee deal may have been made. Feel free to submit your own comments below.
"For Huck and Mitt to team up would require them both to overcome certain obstacles, including:"I think a Romney-Thompson deal makes more sense and frankly seems more likely, but I don't know if Fred would turn on John McCain that way. Although McCain loves to talk about honor (especially his own), I think Thompson actually is the real deal in that regard.
- Huck's apparent personal animosity toward Mitt. Most politicians can get over such things, but I do not have much of a feel for Huck's temperament. What I've seen so far doesn't give me much confidence.
- The "religious" aura of such a team. A devout Mormon and a Baptist pastor? I love it from the standpoint of addressing and bridging the religious divide, but in the general election the MSM would have a field day painting Romney-Huckabee as the coming of the American Taliban.
- Huck's ideology. He's not a conservative. I'm not sure Romney is either, at heart, but he at least has taken conservative positions and actions as an officeholder and would do so as president.
- Huck's "policy competence.". Romney, the "Brain of Bain," loves to surround himself with competent people. Would Huck fit into a Romney-style management team? He's clever and cunning, but does he have the kind of smarts Romney prizes? I don't know, and his policy positions (e.g., on Iran) reflect a certain "shoot from the lip" approach that is very foreign to Romney's own style.
"Just a few thoughts. I hope there's no McCain-Huck deal, but I fear there is. Maybe Giuliani will pull moderates from McCain, Fred will drop out, and Mitt can pick up enough votes to eke out a win in Florida. A Jeb Bush endorsement for Mitt would be great too, but I can't see why Jeb would risk making enemies that way."
posted by Lowell Brown at 9:26 AM
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3 Comments:
Jeb Bush has already endorsed Mitt Romney.
I almost thought there was a punchline to follow. The Southern Baptist Convention has spend the past 25 years indoctrinating its membership against Mormons, and Huckabee tapped that "Mormons aren't Christians" meme to win in Iowa. Given his populist appeal and his attacks on Romney as feeling entitled to be president because of his social class, I can't imagine Huck even being interested in shaking Mitt's hand.
It makes sense to me that he would be happy to accept second fiddle to McCain, but it also confirms my doubts about his plans for what he would do if he won. I don't think he has the knowledge or intelligence to lead this country in the modern world. If he becomes McCain's VP, we had better all pray for John's health.
Now, the day after Super Tuesday, the only stop to McCain in my opinion is for Romney to approach Huckabee and ask to be his V.P. A pre-announced Huckabee-Romney ticket may be the only way to win outright-- even better than if Romney just quits. Romney would never do this, but now it's his best chance at an inside track to the presidency later.
That deal might still work at convention time if McCain doesn't get 50%, but that may be too late...
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